The creation of pleasing designs has fascinated both young and old alike from the time the ability to make them was acquired. Fanciful designs have, for example, been incorporated in pottery, rugs, architectural features and many other products fashioned by human ingenuity since ancient times. Apart from their inclusion in utilitarian artifacts, however, the origination of interesting designs is frequently undertaken simply for the pleasure of their creation. Thus, kaleidoscopes have provided hours of enjoyment to users for generations. The cutting of multi-folded paper into interconnected geometric patterns is another illustration of the preparation of designs for their own sake, as are sand paintings, similar to those employed by the Navaho Indians in their healing ceremonies.
Among the many commercial devices that have been devised to indulge this widespread interest in design creativity may be mentioned the mosaic "plug-in" toy which is the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,529. The toy takes the form of holes disposed in a grid pattern in a substrate. "Mosaic" plates having plug-in members extending therefrom are designed to be received in the holes, thereby permitting their temporary attachment to the substrate as desired to form the intended design.
Another mosaic toy device is that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 510,178 involving a substrate plate containing holes arranged in a grid pattern that permits small stone chips whose underside is shaped to conform to the surface of the holes to be placed therein. By the selective placement of different colored stones, a design or picture can be formed therewith.
A similar device is that taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,569,357 which involves a peg board mounted over a light source into which colored plastic pegs are inserted. A perforated design card may be placed on the board and used as a guide to form a desired design or picture.
Still another device, U.S. Pat. No. 2,149,363, illustrates hinged, back-to-back panels possessing aligned openings therein. Sheets of stencil material are placed between the panels and holes punched in the sheets to form a desired design, using punching tools passed through the aligned openings. Alternatively, colored pins may be inserted in the openings through a pin-retaining resilient fabric stretched thereover to produce a design.
While all of the devices described permit designs and pictures to be created therewith, they have a number of inherent disadvantages. For example, the design color combinations possible with such boards are restricted to the available colors of the insertable pieces. Furthermore, in the case of some of the devices described, the repeated reinsertion of the design-forming pieces into the boards gradually irreversibly enlarges the size of the holes therein, impairing their piece-retention characteristics. This makes the board with a contained design thereon difficult to manipulate without risk of unintended displacement of the pieces and resultant damage to the design.
In addition, since the designs are dependent on the use of the unique pieces associated therewith, the loss of such pieces impairs or renders impossible the creation of the designs for which the boards were intended. Also in most instances, the designs produced with the devices are ephemeral, and their form cannot easily be fixed independent of the board on which it was created.